The perfect present for the investor geek in your family?

Personal finance

Running out of originality when it comes to gifts? How about stocks and bonds? No, not practically speaking as in shares of ownership in companies, but the physical certificates themselves.

The Street ran an article yesterday about , a site that buys and sells authentic stock and bond certificates as collectibles, and collectible they are. Hard-to-get certificates for some companies, or those signed by famous people such as John D. Rockerfeller are priced in the low-to-mid four-figure range. They even offer . As the logic goes, as transactions become increasingly automated, physical stock certificates will become increasingly rare.

With a little creativity, you don’t have to go for certificates of companies who are no longer in existence. A friend gave his two bridesgrooms one share of stock each of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and Ferrari via Fiat (FIA), respectively, as wedding party favors.

And those really are frameable art.

Just keep in mind that if you’re thinking of giving a physical stock certificate, your broker will likely charge a hefty fee (around $50) to register the shares in the recipient’s name and make the transfer. Still, if you’re going for originality, perhaps Scripophily or a stock share in someone’s favorite company might just be what you’re looking for.

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One Feedback on "The perfect present for the investor geek in your family?"

Lazy Man and Money

It may just be me, but I’d rather have an extra share or shares than a piece of paper that costs $50 more than the electronic representation. In some cases (one share), the paper and fees might be worth more than the stock itself. I hope no one gets me that for the holidays.